If you could capture a cloud, it probably wouldn’t look like much. The nature of clouds is transient; they change from minute to minute, and only exist in certain atmospheric conditions. And though they can look fluffy, they’re certainly intangible.
That’s why Italian photographer Raffaello De Vito‘s series, Atmosphere-Clouds is so captivating. The photos seem simple, showing clouds in various shapes suspended in glass boxes, as though placed there for observation. The images, in tones of gray, are serene, although there’s something slightly weird about how the clouds, in their boxes, suddenly seem so solid and static. The photos suggest that inside the glass cubes is a completely separate climate, where everything is suspended, timeless, a frozen moment like that of an exhalation on a cold day.
The exact craft of these photos is kept under wraps by De Vito, who seems to enjoy the mystery behind his images. Are they digital manipulations? Are they some kind of carefully staged physical installation–cotton batting and fishing line, maybe? All we do know is that De Vito isn’t talking. “I believe that photography should be poetry and that poetry should suggest mystery,” he says, and leaves interpretation of both craft and meaning to the audience.
Over at his website, you can see that this is not the first time De Vito has suspended a familiar object in a glass box to create an effect that’s at once intriguing and off-putting. One series, Appartenenze 2.0 (“Memberships 2.0”) features plants from De Vito’s garden, and another, more uncomfortable series, Apparati, (“Equipment”) showcases body parts in glass boxes.
Via My Modern Met
